Plants Having Enhanced Yield-Related Traits and Method for Making the Same

A method for enhancing yield-related traits in a plant relative to a control plant, comprising modulating expression in a plant of a nucleic acid selected from the group consisting of:

• (a) a nucleic acid encoding an OsRSZ33 RRM polypeptide, wherein said OsRSZ33 RRM polypeptide comprises from N- to C-terminus an RRM domain and two Zinc Knuckles;
• (b) a nucleic acid encoding a growth-related protein (GRP) having at least 25% sequence identity to the amino acid sequence of SEQ ID NO:
• 251;
• and
• (c) a nucleic acid encoding a ZPR polypeptide, wherein said ZPR polypeptide comprises a Leucine Zipper (ZIP) domain that is six heptads in length.

An isolated nucleic acid selected from the group consisting of:

• (i) a nucleic acid comprising the nucleotide sequence of SEQ ID NO:
• 266, 286, 316, 374, 376, 380, 424, 456, 458, 460, 462, 648, 650, 670 or 736;
• (ii) the complement of a nucleic acid comprising the nucleotide sequence of SEQ ID NO:
• 266, 286, 316, 374, 376, 380, 424, 456, 458, 460, 462, 648, 650, 670 or 736;
• (iii) a nucleic acid encoding a polypeptide comprising the amino acid sequence of SEQ ID NO:
• 267, 287, 317, 375, 377, 381, 425, 457, 459, 461, 463, 649, 651, 671 or 737, preferably as a result of the degeneracy of the genetic code, said nucleic acid can be derived from the amino acid sequence of SEQ ID NO:
• 267, 287, 317, 375, 377, 381, 425, 457, 459, 461, 463, 649, 651, 671 or 737, and further preferably confers enhanced yield-related traits relative to control plants;
• (iv) a nucleic acid having at least 25%, 26%, 27%, 28%, 29%, 30%, 31%, 32%, 33%, 34%, 35%, 36%, 37%, 38%, 39%, 40%, 41%, 42%, 43%, 44%, 45%, 46%, 47%, 48%, 49%, 50%, 51%, 52%, 53%, 54%, 55%, 56%, 57%, 58%, 59%, 60%, 61%, 62%, 63%, 64%, 65%, 66%, 67%, 68%, 69%, 70%, 71%, 72%, 73%, 74%, 75%, 76%, 77%, 78%, 79%, 80%, 81%, 82%, 83%, 84%, 85%, 86%, 87%, 88%, 89%, 90%, 91%, 92%, 93%, 94%, 95%, 96%, 97%, 98% or 99% sequence identity with any of the nucleotide sequences of SEQ ID NO:
• 266, 286, 316, 374, 376, 380, 424, 456, 458, 460, 462, 648, 650, 670 and 736, or any of the other nucleic acid sequences in Table F, and further preferably conferring enhanced yield-related traits relative to control plants;
• (v) a nucleic acid which hybridizes with any of the nucleic acids of (i) to (iv) under stringent hybridization conditions and preferably confers enhanced yield-related traits relative to control plants;
• and
• (vi) a nucleic acid encoding a polypeptide having at least 25%, 26%, 27%, 28%, 29%, 30%, 31%, 32%, 33%, 34%, 35%, 36%, 37%, 38%, 39%, 40%, 41%, 42%, 43%, 44%, 45%, 46%, 47%, 48%, 49%, 50%, 51%, 52%, 53%, 54%, 55%, 56%, 57%, 58%, 59%, 60%, 61%, 62%, 63%, 64%, 65%, 66%, 67%, 68%, 69%, 70%, 71%, 72%, 73%, 74%, 75%, 76%, 77%, 78%, 79%, 80%, 81%, 82%, 83%, 84%, 85%, 86%, 87%, 88%, 89%, 90%, 91%, 92%, 93%, 94%, 95%, 96%, 97%, 98% or 99% sequence identity to any of the amino acid sequences of SEQ ID NO:
• 267, 287, 317, 375, 377, 381, 425, 457, 549, 461, 463, 649, 651, 671 and 737, and any of the other amino acid sequences in Table F, and preferably conferring enhanced yield-related traits relative to control plants.

An isolated polypeptide comprising:

• (i) the amino acid sequence of SEQ ID NO:
• 267, 287, 317, 375, 377, 381, 425, 457, 459, 461, 463, 649, 651, 671 or 737;
• (ii) an amino acid sequence having at least 25%, 26%, 27%, 28%, 29%, 30%, 31%, 32%, 33%, 34%, 35%, 36%, 37%, 38%, 39%, 40%, 41%, 42%, 43%, 44%, 45%, 46%, 47%, 48%, 49%, 50%, 51%, 52%, 53%, 54%, 55%, 56%, 57%, 58%, 59%, 60%, 61%, 62%, 63%, 64%, 65%, 66%, 67%, 68%, 69%, 70%, 71%, 72%, 73%, 74%, 75%, 76%, 77%, 78%, 79%, 80%, 81%, 82%, 83%, 84%, 85%, 86%, 87%, 88%, 89%, 90%, 91%, 92%, 93%, 94%, 95%, 96%, 97%, 98% or 99% sequence identity to any of the amino acid sequences of SEQ ID NO:
• 267, 287, 317, 375, 377, 381, 425, 457, 459, 461, 463, 649, 651, 671 and 737, and any of the other amino acid sequences in Table F, and preferably conferring enhanced yield-related traits relative to control plants;
• or
• (iii) derivatives of any of the amino acid sequences of (i) or (ii) above.

An isolated nucleic acid selected from the group consisting of:

• (i) a nucleic acid comprising the nucleotide sequence of SEQ ID NO:
• 748, 790, 792, 862, 864, 870, 878, 902, 912 or 918;
• (ii) the complement of a nucleic acid comprising the nucleotide sequence of SEQ ID NO:
• 748, 790, 792, 862, 864, 870, 878, 902, 912 or 918;
• (iii) a nucleic acid encoding a ZPR polypeptide having at least 50%, 51%, 52%, 53%, 54%, 55%, 56%, 57%, 58%, 59%, 60%, 61%, 62%, 63%, 64%, 65%, 66%, 67%, 68%, 69%, 70%, 71%, 72%, 73%, 74%, 75%, 76%, 77%, 78%, 79%, 80%, 81%, 82%, 83%, 84%, 85%, 86%, 87%, 88%, 89%, 90%, 91%, 92%, 93%, 94%, 95%, 96%, 97%, 98% or 99% sequence identity to the amino acid sequence of SEQ ID NO:
• 749, 791, 793, 863, 865 or 871;
• and additionally or alternatively comprising one or more motifs having at least 50%, 55%, 60%, 65%, 70%, 75%, 80%, 85%, 90%, 95%, 96%, 97%, 98%, 99% or more sequence identity to any one or more of motifs 1 to 6 as given in SEQ ID NO:
• 929 to SEQ ID NO:
• 934, and further preferably conferring enhanced yield-related traits relative to control plants;
• (iv) a nucleic acid encoding a ZPR polypeptide having at least 50%, 51%, 52%, 53%, 54%, 55%, 56%, 57%, 58%, 59%, 60%, 61%, 62%, 63%, 64%, 65%, 66%, 67%, 68%, 69%, 70%, 71%, 72%, 73%, 74%, 75%, 76%, 77%, 78%, 79%, 80%, 81%, 82%, 83%, 84%, 85%, 86%, 87%, 88%, 89%, 90%, 91%, 92%, 93%, 94%, 95%, 96%, 97%, 98% or 99% sequence identity to the amino acid sequence of SEQ ID NO:
• 878, 902, 912 or 918;
• and additionally or alternatively comprising one or more motifs having at least 50%, 55%, 60%, 65%, 70%, 75%, 80%, 85%, 90%, 95%, 96%, 97%, 98%, 99% or more sequence identity to any one or more of motifs 8 to 10 as given in SEQ ID NO:
• 929 to SEQ ID NO:
• 931, and further preferably conferring enhanced yield-related traits relative to control plants;
• and
• (v) a nucleic acid which hybridizes with any of the nucleic acid molecules of (i) to (iv) under high stringency hybridization conditions and preferably confers enhanced yield-related traits relative to control plants.

An isolated polypeptide comprising:

• (i) the amino acid sequence of SEQ ID NO:
• 749, 791, 793, 863, 865, 871, 879, 903, 913 or 919;
• (ii) an amino acid sequence having at least 25%, 26%, 27%, 28%, 29%, 30%, 31%, 32%, 33%, 34%, 35%, 36%, 37%, 38%, 39%, 40%, 41%, 42%, 43%, 44%, 45%, 46%, 47%, 48%, 49%, 50%, 51%, 52%, 53%, 54%, 55%, 56%, 57%, 58%, 59%, 60%, 61%, 62%, 63%, 64%, 65%, 66%, 67%, 68%, 69%, 70%, 71%, 72%, 73%, 74%, 75%, 76%, 77%, 78%, 79%, 80%, 81%, 82%, 83%, 84%, 85%, 86%, 87%, 88%, 89%, 90%, 91%, 92%, 93%, 94%, 95%, 96%, 97%, 98% or 99% sequence identity to the amino acid sequence of SEQ ID NO:
• 749, 791, 793, 863, 865 or 871;
• and additionally or alternatively comprising one or more motifs having in increasing order of preference at least 50%, 55%, 60%, 65%, 70%, 75%, 80%, 85%, 90%, 95%, 96%, 97%, 98%, 99% or more sequence identity to any one or more of motifs 8 to 13 given in SEQ ID NO:
• 929 to SEQ ID NO:
• 934, and further preferably conferring enhanced yield-related traits relative to control plants;
• (iii) an amino acid sequence having at least 25%, 26%, 27%, 28%, 29%, 30%, 31%, 32%, 33%, 34%, 35%, 36%, 37%, 38%, 39%, 40%, 41%, 42%, 43%, 44%, 45%, 46%, 47%, 48%, 49%, 50%, 51%, 52%, 53%, 54%, 55%, 56%, 57%, 58%, 59%, 60%, 61%, 62%, 63%, 64%, 65%, 66%, 67%, 68%, 69%, 70%, 71%, 72%, 73%, 74%, 75%, 76%, 77%, 78%, 79%, 80%, 81%, 82%, 83%, 84%, 85%, 86%, 87%, 88%, 89%, 90%, 91%, 92%, 93%, 94%, 95%, 96%, 97%, 98% or 99% sequence identity to the amino acid sequence of SEQ ID NO:
• 879, 903, 913 or 919;
• and additionally or alternatively comprising one or more motifs having at least 50%, 55%, 60%, 65%, 70%, 75%, 80%, 85%, 90%, 95%, 96%, 97%, 98%, 99% or more sequence identity to any one or more of motifs 8 to 10 given in SEQ ID NO:
• 929 to SEQ ID NO:
• 931, and further preferably conferring enhanced yield-related traits relative to control plants;
• (iv) derivatives of any of the amino acid sequences of (i) to (iii) above.